Shlep D-O Double Gizzle's Web Pizzle

Where's my parade?

The first unofficial attempt at counting the number of civilian casualties in Iraq was made public today. The Associated Press estimates around 3,000 Iraqi civilians were killed based on visits to hospitals throughout the country.

It is true that in any war, however just or unjust, there are civilian casualties. But the American leadership continues to exhibit an extreme arrogance about the matter ("Our efforts focus on destroying the enemy's capabilities, so we never target civilians and have no reason to try to count such unintended deaths,"). Add to that the repeated showing-off of the "advanced" weapon technology that would always just hit just their targets, makes the fact that thousands of innocent Iraqis died all the more abhorrent. In the military's defense, Iraqi troops did routinely hide in residential areas and dress up as civilians, but 3,000? As a low estimate? With all the talk of the professional and technological superiority of the U.S forces, this unnecessary loss of life is truly sickening.

For the Iraqis themselves, the meaning of this level of loss is debatable. As shown in the article, some question whether the removal of Saddam was worth the loss of loved ones, while others maintain that those killed are fallen martyrs, honorable sacrfices made for the freedom of their people. This is never an easy question especially given the state of absolute chaos that Iraq has been in since the end of the war two months ago. Security is a serious issue, many areas are without basic utilities (I watched a report on TV yesterday showing how children, infants even, are dying everyday due to dysentery and diarrhea caused by the lack of clean water) but, of course, Americans in Iraq are too busy looking for non-existent weapons of mass destruction (more on this later) and guarding oil wells to clean up their own mess. Surely, this type of "freedom" makes even the staunchest Saddam haters doubt whether the lives of their countrymen are more valuable than the removal of a tyrant.

I definitely don't have any real answers. I've spent a lifetime wondering whether a free, but horribly poor and corrupt, Bangladesh is worth the loss of my grandfather and my uncle. One part of me says yes, it is honorable, it is noble, it is necessary, freedom from oppression, genocide and tyanny must be won at all costs. But is being dragged out of your home in front of your family, lined up against a wall, executed and thrown into a mass grave noble? More importantly, is it necessary? Was it necessary that my mother and her sisters had to hide for days in the back of an oxcart en route to an Indian refugee camp, because they were afraid of being raped by Pakistani soldiers?

I have, probably always will have, mixed feelings about it. I am proud. It is probably the most significant source of pride that I have to be able to say that, yeah, my grandfather and my uncle and my entire family sacrificed everything so that I can tell people, I'm Bangladeshi. They died so I can say, "I'm not from East Pakistan, I'm from Bangladesh", and I'm proud of that.

But it is also so sad. So sad that it had to happen in such a tragic way. So sad that I still cannot go and visit the gravesites of my grandfather or my uncle because they have none. Iraqis today are struggling with these same issues and one thing I do know for sure. Because we, willingly or not, have taken it upon ourselves to "liberate" the Iraqi people, we must also follow through and allow them to build a stable, proserpous democracy of their own making. We must stop dicking around trying to find Saddam and his imgaginary weapons and help the Iraqis rebuild what is left of their lives. Then, at least, it will be worth it. Sort of.

*****

One of the main reasons the Bush administration gave for going to war in the first place was to make sure that Saddam could not use his alleged weapons of mass destruction against other nations. It is going on two months since the war ended and no weapons have been found. Additionally, reports are surfacing that the intelligence that Saddam had weapons was not only faulty, but might have been doctored to help convince people of the need for war. I read a letter to the editor the other day saying that it shouldn't matter. The war is over, Saddam is gone, the Iraqi people are free so we should concentrate on the future. This is a reasonable point, but the issue isn't that the weapons can't be found so the war was wrong. The issue is that the justification used to convince Congress, our allies and the American public that we should go to war, was based on a pure lie.

No, politicians lying to the public is nothing new. But in matters of war, of life and death, outright deception is inexecusable. The administration should be held accountable for deliberately decieving the American people into supporting this war. If not, a dangerous precedent will be set that will give the government free reign to do as they wish without regard for the people that put them in power.

Fortunately, the "Internet" has made communication within this democracy efficient and wonderfully simple. I urge everyone to visit TrueMajority.org With this service, you can send letters and faxes directly to your Representatives and Senators by literally just clicking a button. Another growing and effective email-based service is MoveOn.org. These are very worth checking out, and participation is limited to clicking a few buttons. Apathetic people say it doesn't matter, politicians won't listen anyway. Wrong. America is, however flawed, still a democracy, and they will have to listen if we keep speaking out. They sure as hell won't listen if you never speak up.

Posted by sheelpi at June 11, 2003 12:34 AM